Star of Zanzibar

Star of Zanzibar was introduced to water gardening public in 2002. One of my all time favorite tropical day blooming water lilies. Star of Zanzibar has large (5″-6″) dark blue flowers with as many as 40 petals per bloom. Heavily variegated leaves with splashes of maroon can reach up to 14″ across. This tropical lily is extremely vigorous and blooms heavily throughout the season. The leaves are held close to the center of the plant, making it neat and compact, but it can spread up to six feet across if put in a large plant container. If you would like to grow it in a small to medium pond, plant in a 8″ to 12″ wide container to limit it’s spread to about 4′.